In any normal case, in any ordinary court, judges hold preliminary hearings to narrow the issues and move the case closer to trial. But there is nothing ordinary about the prosecution of the five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. And the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, where the case is being heard, is no ordinary court. Instead of bringing the case closer to trial, each preliminary hearing in Guantanamo seems to move it further away.

A US appeals court’s ruling on July 14, 2014, has dealt a major blow to the legitimacy of military commissions and should dissuade the Obama administration from further using the commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects

As the Senate considers an appropriations bill that includes funding for the Department of Justice, the undersigned human rights, civil liberties, and religious organizations strongly urge you to oppose any additional restrictions on the authority of the Secretary of Defense to order the overseas transfer of detainees from Guantanamo to foreign countries.

The United States government should ensure that Ahmed Abu Khatallah, apprehended for his alleged role in the September 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is brought promptly before a judge and provided access to a lawyer.